Hopping Universes
by G-TMZ
Summary: Set after the events of Sonic X, everyone has moved on with their lives, but when Shadow wants to learn more about his past life, and a serious fraud is revealed, a brand new adventure filled with danger emerges.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hello and welcome to my very first fan fiction endeavor! I am G-TMZ. This particular story is one I have based off of the _Sonic X_ television series, which originally aired in 2003. This story includes Christopher Thorndyke—a character who I understand has received a lot a negative attention. Unfortunately for the so-called "Chris-haters", I have incorporated Chris into this story, and he will play a fairly major role.

The first chapter will introduce the characters and what happened after Chris returned to his world.

**The usual fanfiction disclaimer: **The _Sonic the Hedgehog_ franchise is owned and produced by Sega and/or its assignees. This work has been neither authorized nor endorsed by Sega or its assignees. I, the creator of this derivative work, assume no rights to its content. However, I respectfully submit that as a work of fan fiction, the creation of this derivative work is not done in a manner as to commercially compete with the original work(s), nor is its existence downplaying the marketing value of the original work(s). This work is, in a way, _promoting_ the franchise by facilitating the sharing of imaginations of fans of the franchise.

And so, without further ado…

* * *

Christopher Thorndyke walked down the path leading to the Physics Department of the Station Square Institute of Science, or SSISci (pronounced "sigh-sigh").

Eight years earlier, an event occurred in Station Square which scientists still couldn't fully understand. A child-sized blue hedgehog had spontaneously appeared one day in the middle of the street, along with his friends and Doctor Eggman. At first, the creature was believed to be a machine created to spy against the government. After all, what kind of hedgehog is blue and could run faster than the speed of sound? Who would have thought that this creature came from an entirely different universe? After overshooting the end of a highway, the hedgehog had accidentally landed in young Christopher's swimming pool.

Chris was the son of a beautiful actress and the chief executive of a huge home appliance company. As a child, Chris had often lived alone, with only Ella and Mister Tanaka, his servants; and Charles Thorndyke, his grandfather, to keep him company. It seemed as if his parents were always working, and although they wished they could spend more time with their son, they were always too busy. In an attempt to make up for their absences, Lindsey and Nelson Thorndyke invested much money in buying toys for their only child. If Chris had wanted a toy, he could have had it in his hand by the end of the day.

But Chris never wanted toys. Above all else, he wanted a friend, someone he could talk to and have fun with every day. When Sonic the Hedgehog landed in his pool, little did he know he would earn that very friend he had been wishing for.

They spent a year together—saving the world on numerous occasions from the schemes of the nefarious Doctor Eggman. And then one day, Dr. Kim Bickley, a physicist from the National Science Institute (the rival school of SSISci), had informed Chris's family a year after Sonic had first arrived that Sonic's world and Chris's world were once one, and with the presence of Sonic and his friends, the two worlds were beginning to merge. If Sonic didn't return to his world as soon as possible, the two worlds and their respective timelines may fuse, and time would hit a road block, stopping it in one place forever.

_It's not a theory_, Dr. Bickley had said. _Even as we speak the two timelines are converging. Soon they'll meld completely, and when they do, they'll cancel each other out, and time will stand still. The result will be catastrophic. The rejoined planets will be frozen in time, while billions of years pass in the rest of the universe. Once the timelines are fused, the effects will be irreversible._

Chris entered the Physics Department and sat at an empty seat, waiting for the day's lecture to begin.

_Funny_, Chris thought presently, _I can still remember clearly what they were saying._

He closed his eyes. _Has it really been seven years since Sonic left this world?_

Chris recalled the last time he ever saw Sonic. It was six months ago: Sonic and his friends had just won a huge battle against the evil Metarex in space. Right when Chris thought he could settle peacefully with Sonic, Doctor Eggman had told him that the connection between his world and Sonic's was going to sever soon if he didn't return to his world.

Chris could feel his eyes grow misty as he remembered the quick decision he had to make: return home or stay with Sonic.

He had chosen to return to be with his family and his friends at home: Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Helen, Danny, Francis, Tanaka, and Ella.

Eggman had created a machine that could quickly whisk him away back to his own world just in time for the universal tie between to two worlds to sever. Eggman couldn't promise what age Chris' body would be upon arrival. Quite frankly, Eggman couldn't promise whether he could be trusted or not. If he was telling the truth, then there was a strong possibility that Chris would never see Sonic ever again.

Yet some instinct in Chris told him he should trust Eggman and go home.

Fortunately, Eggman had told the truth, and the machine had carried him back to his home world safe and sound. Further, the action of passing between the worlds caused his body to revert to his normal age of eighteen. Chris was still struggling to understand how the whole age shift thing even happened.

Upon arrival, Chris had been greeted warmly by his human friends and family. His parents had scolded him: "Never do this to us again! You had us worried sick!"

In spite of that, they had hugged him so hard that Chris himself was worried he may start having breathing problems.

Danny and Francis were more eager to learn what Chris had experienced in Sonic's world.

"Did you really get to see Sonic?" Francis had asked.

"What was Sonic's world like?" was Danny's first question.

Helen only smiled at Chris, greeting him warmly. She knew that it probably wasn't easy for her friend to say goodbye to Sonic on his own, so she kept quiet about it. If Chris wanted to share what he had experienced, he'll share it eventually.

Helen was right. Through their endless inquires, Chris couldn't seem to bring himself to fully tell his friends what had happened in Sonic's world. Thinking about Sonic made Chris's heart sink, as a part of him knew he may never see his fast-running spiky blue friend again. Consequently, Chris was reluctant to think about him too often. Chris had simply tried to move on in life—continuing his scientific studies at school. Chris suddenly remembered his family was hosting a Thanksgiving party that weekend. Danny, Francis, and Helen's families were all invited.

Yet occasionally, he couldn't help but drift his thoughts towards the blue hedgehog that he never said a parting goodbye to. He simply couldn't give up hope that one day, the interdimensional connection will be restored, and he'll be able to laugh and talk with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and heck, even Eggman again.

Suddenly, the sound of a bell pierced through his thoughts, abruptly ending his brief nostalgia. The physics lecture was starting.

* * *

After the encounters with the Metarex, life on Sonic's world returned to normal—that is, Eggman's persistent attempts to establish an "Eggman Empire" and Sonic's persistent success in kicking Eggman's butt.

Secretly, both Sonic and Eggman enjoyed this routine. Both knew that if either one of them got their way, life would become boring: Eggman would have no one to plot revenge against if he defeated Sonic, and Sonic wouldn't have any dangerous adventures to take if he defeated Eggman. This gave rise to an endless rivalry.

Sonic had witnessed Chris's departure. All he saw was Chris in a rocket ship built by Eggman, shooting off into the sky. Sonic had accelerated as fast as he could, but before he could jump to save Chris, the rocket disappeared in an impressive burst of light.

Sonic and his friends knew that in spite of himself, Eggman was not an overly cruel man—he would never kill Chris by exploding him in a rocket just to get him out of the way like the Metarex would have.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles confronted Eggman and asked what he had done with Chris. Eggman explained the circumstances—how Chris had to leave as quickly as possible, and how he couldn't have said goodbye.

"How can we trust you?" Knuckles had asked.

"Tails, did I hear that right? I think Knuckles said that he didn't trust Eggman!" said Sonic.

"Yeah, that's what I heard too… Are you sure this is Knuckles?" Tails had replied with a smile.

Knuckles glared balefully at them.

Eggman chuckled softly but decided it was probably the right time to intervene: "Knuckles, as the guardian of the Master Emerald, you should be able to feel major fluctuations in the Chaos energy surrounding the Master Emerald. On the day Chris left to his world, did you feel anything different about the Master Emerald?"

Sonic and Tails' jibes forgotten, Knuckles rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I might have. Yeah, actually I did. It was weird—almost like something was torn."

"That must have been the connection between our two worlds cutting off."

"Wait… does this mean we'll never see Chris or Chuck or the rest of them ever again?" said Tails.

Eggman chuckled again. "The kid asked the same thing. It is a possibility that we must consider."

Knuckles bit his lip and his eyes dropped to the floor. Tails looked away misty-eyed. In contrast, Sonic snorted incredulously and said that they would figure something out eventually. "Trust me, this won't be the last we ever heard of him!"

* * *

Presently, Sonic and his friends were all at their respective homes. Each had received a light yellow envelope in the mail, addressed to them by Cream the Rabbit.

_Dear Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and the Chaotix Detectives:_

_My birthday is coming up, and I am turning 7.  
__Please come to my house for a party this Saturday.  
__My mother, Cheese and I are going to be baking a delicious cake!_

_Your friend,  
__Cream_

Naturally, all of Cream's invitees responded positively to her invitation. Who could refuse an invitation to a party hosted by Cream and her mother? And all of them knew that Cream's mother baked delectable cakes. Besides, it gave them something to do. (They had recently stomped out another one of Eggman's lamer attacks, and recently, they started realizing they had nothing to do. "It's almost like our _job_ is fighting Eggman!" Sonic had joked. Knuckles, whose duty was to protect the Master Emerald, reasoned that the party would only be for a few hours.)

Uplifted by the prospect of a party, everyone seemed cheerful.

Sonic visited Tails at his workshop.

"Hey Tails! What's up?"

Tails paused his maintenance on the _X Tornado_ and cheerfully responded, "Hi Sonic! Didja get the invitation to Cream's party?"

"Sure did! Do you have any idea what I should get her?"

Tails grinned. "Flowers. Lots of them."

Both of them laughed, and Tails went over to pick something up. Sonic noticed it was a green watering can and he smiled sadly.

"Looking after that seed Cosmo left behind?"

"It's not a seed anymore!" Tails said ungrudgingly.

Indeed, after planting the seed that was left behind by Cosmo, it had grown magnificently. The plant had grown to be two feet tall already, and it had three large leaves branching off its stem.

Sonic stroked the plant gently. Its leaves felt soft and smooth. Sonic knew that Tails cared a lot about Cosmo, and having to be the one to pull the trigger on his close friend had devastated him. The only thing he had left was a seed Cosmo had left behind. The seed was now this plant that Tails was carefully maintaining in his workshop.

Sonic stared blankly at the plant. He still felt a slimmer of guilt for not being able to rescue Cosmo after Tails had shot him and Shadow straight at her. Then he shook his head. Whatever blame Tails had initially cast on him had been quickly forgotten. Besides, there was very little he could have done. Everyone had returned mostly to their normal selves after the Metarex.

Sonic looked up at Tails. He could see that he was thinking about Cosmo too. He decided it was time to leave him alone.

"I guess I'll go get some flowers."

With this, they both grinned at each other.

* * *

Millions of miles away on another planet, a mysterious figure sat at the top of a cliff, looking over the edge. The figure sat still and quietly with his eyes closed. He was recovering. He had injuries all of his body that were still healing from the shock; he had used up virtually all of the energy he had in the previous battle. But more importantly, he was thinking. He was thinking deeply about what he had experienced in the past few months he had been conscious. Beyond those few months, his mind was blurred. He had hazy recollections of a girl named Maria, whom he could remember he cared strongly for.

Then he remembered something that boy had said. Something about how he had somehow helped Sonic and his feeble companions in the past. Sonic and his companions seemed to recognize him when he appeared with the Chaos Emeralds, but he could not remember ever seeing them before. And yet they had looked surprised when they saw him because they recognized him. The boy had even given him the two inhibitor rings which were presently on his wrists. They helped channel his energy to make sure he doesn't use up all of it in a battle—something that could prove fatal.

Shadow the Hedgehog opened his eyes. He was sure of what he would do now. In his hand, he held a glowing Chaos Emerald. He needed to know more about his past so he can discover what his future is—what his purpose is. Doctor Eggman had promised him information about his past, but he never got it. Instead, Shadow would ask Sonic about his past.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Chapter 2 took much longer to write than I ever ever expected, mainly because I've been super busy in the real world. I sincerely apologize for that. Before you read, It thought I'd make sure that I say that a couple elements of this story were inspired by another fan fiction story. Specifically _The Return Of Sonic X_ by BladeTheProtecter (published Apr 22, 2011). The author had a truly good point about one aspect of _Sonic X_'s plot, and their idea for a story was just as good, but unfortunately the story got abandoned. I was so inspired by their idea that I decided to take just a part of it and incorporate it into this story. I hope you enjoy. Oh, and one more thing: in this chapter, I borrow one of the characters from the TV series _Numb3rs_, a show I admire greatly.

* * *

It was Thanksgiving. The Thorndyke family was hosting what was essentially a feast. It was a celebration of the friendships the family had made through the ages. It was the one true occasion every year where Chris' parents, Nelson and Lindsey, made sure to attend. After all, they figured, who works on Thanksgiving?

Chris's family had invited the families of Helen, Danny, and Francis. Topaz, an agent of the government, was also in attendance. Topaz had become good friends with the Thorndykes after her partner, Rouge the Bat, had returned to her home world with Sonic.

The dinner was excellent, for Ella had cooked it. She had spent the past two weeks planning the event and had made a huge deal about getting everything just right.

Chuck, Chris' grandfather, bit into a perfectly cooked turkey. "Mmmm," he said. "Ella, you have outdone yourself."

The others mumbled their agreement, mouths full of the succulent entrees. Ella smiled and said, "That's what you say nearly every time I cook for you."

Throughout the course of the meal, everyone talked and boasted about the latest that was happening.

"So," said Ella, "how is school for everybody?"

"It's pretty great, Ella." Danny replied. "Too bad Chris had to go to Sonic's world for nearly a year. Since he's missed a year, he has to completely redo all his courses for that year."

Chris's mother and father gave him a somewhat reproachful glance. All throughout Chris's time away, they had worried about him. Now that he was back, they never missed the opportunity to remind Chris of that fact.

"Yes Danny," Chris replied scornfully. "Thanks for letting me know."

To this everyone at the table chuckled. Danny shrugged and held his hands up innocently. "Hey, I'm sure getting to see Sonic again was totally worth it."

"You know Chris," Lindsey said, "you never really told us what you did in Sonic's world."

"Yeah!" Francis chimed in. "What was it like there?"

"Did you get to show him all the interesting inventions you were showing us before you left?" Helen asked, still chuckling.

Chris sighed. "Yeah, I know. I've been meaning to tell you—all of you…" His voice trailed off. _But it's just too much!_ he thought.

Just then there was a _ding!_

Ella shot up right away. "That must be the pie I made for dessert! I will be right back!"

Mouths began to water as Ella spoke of the prospect of her famous pie.

Meanwhile, Chuck stroke his chin thoughtfully. "Chris, I've been meaning to tell you that recently I've made a few breakthrough calculations that if verified, it could open the door to a theory that could explain how Chaos Control worked."

Chris looked up, mildly interested. The power of Chaos was the least understood concept in human science, yet Sonic and his friends were living proof that the power of Chaos exists—or so most people thought. There was very small albeit vocal minority of people who refused to accept that Sonic the Hedgehog and Chaos were ever in existence. They argued that only a very powerful robot could achieve such high speeds and acquire such powerful energy, and the government had been trying to cover their own mistake by inventing the story of Sonic the Hedgehog and the power of Chaos energy.

Suddenly, there was another _ding!_ This time it sounded different in tone. Everyone immediately recognized it as the doorbell.

This time it was Tanaka that shot up immediately, keen on performing his duties.

"I wonder who it is," Lindsey said. They had not been expecting another guest.

"It's rather strange to have a visitor come at this hour… on this day too!" Nelson agreed.

A few minutes passed.

"What's taking Tanaka so long to answer the door?" said Chris.

A minute later, Tanaka returned.

"Who was it?" asked Chris.

"Master Thorndyke," Tanaka began. He had always addressed Chris _Master Thorndyke_ for as long as Chris could remember. Chris thought it sounded too formal—Tanaka was more a friend to him than just an impersonal butler. However, every time Chris had told Tanaka to call him otherwise, Tanaka never seemed to remember.

"Master Thorndyke, there is an agent of the government who wants to see your grandfather."  
"Me?" Chuck asked incredulously.

Members of the table glanced in Topaz's direction when an agent of the government was mentioned. Topaz immediately put her hands up defensively, indicating she too had no idea why the government was here.

"Am I in trouble?" Chuck asked.

Tanaka frowned. "I do not know, Professor. I tried to invite him to come in, but he refused. He said he would only speak with Charles Thorndyke."

"Well, that's me," Chuck said, getting up. He walked briskly to the front door, Tanaka following.

At the door, Chuck was expecting meet a gruff and burly government agent. Instead, his eyes were greeted by a young face whose eyes showed a deep concern.

"Hello, I'm Charles Thorndyke."

The agent's face lit up as though he had been searching the world over for him.

"Good evening, my name is Don Eppes. I'm an agent for the government's bureau of investigations."

Chuck stiffened at those words. "Am I in trouble?"

Eppes exhaled sharply, then grinned warmly. "Maybe."

Chucked raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to come in?"

Inside, Eppes insisted they find a room where they could talk privately. His eyes moved around the house, absorbing everything. They headed upstairs, away from the ongoing feast, and entered an empty room.

"What's this about?" Chuck asked immediately.

Eppes turned to face Chuck, and his face grew solemn. "Professor," he began in a low voice, "are you aware of a government operation known as _Project Homebound_?"

Chuck frowned. "I am. I was involved in the operation. It was the plan to send Sonic the Hedgehog and everyone else from his world back to his world. Tails and I were essentially the only ones who figured out the technical aspects of it."

"Yes. Now, as a government agent I investigate cases of white-collar crime. It's usually cases like bank fraud, Ponzi schemes, forgeries—nothing violent."

"I'm aware of what white-collar crime is."

"A few months ago we were investigating a case of bank fraud. Someone had illegally withdrew at least a hundred thousand dollars. When we searched the suspect's house, we found files relating to Project Homebound. Our suspect had been _extensively_ researching Project Homebound. We even found several files about who you are, where you live, and a bunch more personal information."

"Are you saying that I have a stalker?" Chuck asked.

"No. What we found out is much more earth-shattering than a simple stalker. Tell me, Professor Thorndyke, who else was involved in Project Homebound?"

"There was a physicist from the National Science Institute by the name of Kim Bickley, who was researching how the presence of Sonic and his friends were affecting space and time in this world. If there was anything our world has ever found out that could be considered earth-shattering, the news she had delivered would certainly be it."

"And what was this earth-shattering news?"

"Well, she had recorded and published some observations which proved beyond a reasonable doubt that time itself was slowing down at a small but accelerating pace. She made calculations and predicted that if the time deceleration wasn't reversed as soon as possible, time itself would come to a stop. She made further mathematical observations which proved that the reason for the phenomenon was because there were two timelines that were melding together. She concluded that time was slowing due to the long-term presence of alien mass from the other timeline in this timeline."

"And that would be…"

"Sonic. Precisely. We were able to successfully reverse the damages through Project Homebound, by which we sent Sonic and his friends, along with Doctor Eggman and anything else that got sent to this world, home. In doing so, we essentially made it so that both timelines became independent universes."

"Professor, before going along with Project Homebound, did you verify Dr. Bickley's calculations to ensure that they were accurate?"

"Of course," replied Chuck in a tone that said _What kind of question is that?_

"Right, right," Eppes said, "you wouldn't want to send Sonic and his friends home prematurely _by mistake_, right?"

Eppes focused his eyes intently on Chuck as he said this. Chuck frowned at him, "Agent Eppes, is there something you are insinuating?"

Eppes closed his eyes. "Professor Thorndyke, what was originally a run-of-the-mill bank fraud case turned out to be a huge scheme to defraud the entire government." Eppes opened his eyes and focused intently on Chuck again.

Chuck was interested. "What kind of scheme?"

"Professor, I'm going to be blunt with you. I want to make sure that you were not involved in this scheme. I'm want to share top secret information with you. Normally you would need a security clearance. If this information is told to the wrong people…"

"_Agent_," Chuck said emphatically, "I swear that I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."

The agent stared at Chuck for a short while, then finally deciding that it was okay to trust him, he continued: "Professor, do you know what Project Shadow is?"

Chuck raised his eyebrows. "Yes, I've come to be familiar with it."

"There was a prototype of Shadow that was built by a Gerald Robotnik. Gerald Robotnik is the grandfather of the same Doctor Eggman that came to this world from Sonic's."

"What? How do you know this?" Chuck inquired incredulously.

"Professor, do you know anyone who has successfully travelled _to_ Sonic's world?"

Chuck hesitated, then said, "Yes, my grandson Christopher travelled there about a year ago."

"How long did he stay in the other universe?"

"Almost ten months," Chuck replied.

"And how long did Sonic the Hedgehog remain in this universe when he originally arrived?"

"Not long, actually, though it felt like forever. About… ten months. Wait a second." Chuck frowned deeply, as if something troubled him profoundly. "If the presence of Sonic in this world for ten months is enough to cause time to halt, then the presence of Chris in Sonic's world should have had the same effect, if not more pronounced—"

"Now wait a second, Professor," Eppes interrupted. "Like I told you, Dr. Eggman was originally born in this world. That means his alien mass was already in Sonic's world for years _prior_ to coming to our world in the original Chaos Control incident. In fact, as I understand it, his alien mass is _still there_."

Chuck closed his eyes in deep thought for about a minute before suddenly snapping his head up with a look of absolute horror in his eyes.

"So that would mean our two worlds should still be merging. That should mean that time should have stopped by now. But it hasn't," Chuck said grimly. He suddenly remembered the day when Sonic and his friends left. Chris had caused the portal he and Tails had created to stop operating, and Chris and Sonic fled. They had been missing for more than a day—enough time to have caused time to allegedly stop, but it didn't stop then. How could he have been so foolish not to notice?

"The only way to explain this," Chuck said slowly, "is if Dr. Bickley was wrong in the original observations that time was slowing."

"Didn't you say you verified Dr. Bickley's calculations?" Eppes asked accusingly.

"We verified her _calculations_, but no one confirmed her original observations. Agent Eppes, you have to realize that we were under the threat of time _stopping_. With all due respect, we were so focused on fixing the situation that I suppose we just trusted her on some points. We had no idea we were extrapolating on false data!"

"Tell me Professor, what can cause the data to be false?"

"Well, I don't know. She may have had faulty equipment—"

"Professor Thorndyke, isn't it true that she could have fabricated the evidence that the two worlds were merging?"

"I suppose it's _possible_…"

With this, Agent Eppes stood up and offered his hand. "Thank you, Professor Thorndyke. That's all I needed to hear."

Chuck eyed the hand suspiciously. "Now wait just a minute. You can't just tell all this to me and expect me to just not do anything!" Chuck raised his voice. "If what you are saying is true, this means that Sonic and his friends might not have had to go back to their world in the first place, am I right?"

"Professor, this much is clear: the government is in possession of evidence which proves unequivocally that Dr. Kim Bickley intentionally and maliciously misappropriated government resources on Project Homebound by lying about the data. No, I suppose that Sonic and his friends did not have to go back to their own world after all. The government is suspecting that that was the motive behind her actions—she wanted to get rid of Sonic from this world."

"That's insane! She… she's crazy!"

"Professor, Dr. Bickley will be arrested and charged with defrauding the government as soon as possible," Eppes said curtly, then he turned and walked out the door.

Before going out of sight, he turned. "Have a good night," he said, and then he was gone.

Chuck stood there for a while, alone.

_How on Earth am I going to tell Chris?_


End file.
